Pats lose 1st Round pick. Brady suspended 4 games.

[Sho Nuff 720]

Let's just say I wholeheartedly agree with the "Hate Us 'Cause They Ain't Us" guy

 

Because you like being wrong? Or you are a fan of jerseys and cutoffs?

[Mike Honcho 5,432]

 

That is a simplistic way to look at things.

I think overall he shoulders a lot of it for a conservative approach early...though, that conservative approach had them with a large lead late in a game.

 

Reason the ST coach is gone is that fake FG that lead to the first TD for the Hawks.

Add in Capers going conservative and giving up a 3rd and long situations.

Blame that too...and part of why McCArthy is giving up play calling to be able to oversee everything.

Then the inability of HaHa to play the ball on a 2 point conversion.

Then Bostic not listening to the ST coach and doing his job to block...but going for the ball.

 

It was a large fock up all around.

 

I put as much blame on giving up that 3rd and 19 as anything in the game. I don't think Russell had a completion over 7 yards under pressure to that point..what does Capers do to a team on it's heels, rushes 2 and leaves 1 as a spy. Plays his DB's 18 yards back, essentially giving a free pass and 90% of what was needed for a first down. That play continued the drive that led to the fake FG.

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25182478/look-patriots-fans-stage-deflategate-protest-at-nfl-offices-get-arrested

 

That's my boys! Way to go NYPD!

[Mike Honcho 5,432]

That's my boys! Way to go NYPD!

 

No batons???

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

 

No batons???

Damn cameras eveywhere. Have an adjustment session later if they act up. That's how the pros do it.

[Sho Nuff 720]

 

I put as much blame on giving up that 3rd and 19 as anything in the game. I don't think Russell had a completion over 7 yards under pressure to that point..what does Capers do to a team on it's heels, rushes 2 and leaves 1 as a spy. Plays his DB's 18 yards back, essentially giving a free pass and 90% of what was needed for a first down. That play continued the drive that led to the fake FG.

 

He has done that far too often.

Rush 4-5 all game...until late when its close...then back off and hope deep coverage works.

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

Let's just say I wholeheartedly agree with the "Hate Us 'Cause They Ain't Us" guy

 

Lets just say that the "Hate us" guy and his friends are about to be introduced to the NYC court system. Gonna be a long night. Unless the NFL or whoever owns the building backs off. Out of pity for some sad, sad people.

[IGotWorms 4,063]

That's my boys!

Sure they are

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

Just think, if the Pats situation is the beginning of the end for Goodell, this is a win win for everybody. Except the Patriots of course.

[DankNuggs 305]

https://twitter.com/tiffblackmon/status/598190935122509826

 

Occupy LoL Street

"They peanut butter and jealous"

 

[DankNuggs 305]

Lets just say that the "Hate us" guy and his friends are about to be introduced to the NYC court system. Gonna be a long night. Unless the NFL or whoever owns the building backs off. Out of pity for some sad, sad people.

Not true at all, you can protest on a public sidewalk. you Union people are aware of that right?

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

Not true at all, you can protest on a public sidewalk. you Union people are aware of that right?

Sure can. With a permit. But you can't handcuff yourselves together and sit in a lobby of a private building. Feel stupid now? Because you are.

[DankNuggs 305]

Sure can. With a permit. But you can't handcuff yourselves together and sit in a lobby of a private building. Feel stupid now? Because you are.

http://www.occupyyourrights.org

[DankNuggs 305]

I didn't read the article that they went inside. Lol idiots

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

http://www.occupyyourrights.org

It took me about 2 seconds to find where it says a permit is required. You're an idiot

[drobeski 3,061]

Just think, if the Pats situation is the beginning of the end for Goodell, this is a win win for everybody. Except the Patriots of course.

they got the win that matters

[edjr 6,898]

barstoolsports boston were the ones that handcuffed themselves together NFL Headquarters

[IGotWorms 4,063]

Well that sycophant Ted Wells is on the airwaves now defending the "integrity" of his report. Methinks the lady doth protest too much

[IGotWorms 4,063]

It took me about 2 seconds to find where it says a permit is required. You're an idiot

Maybe you really were a NYC cop, given your apparent disdain for civil liberties

[Sho Nuff 720]

Maybe you really were a NYC cop, given your apparent disdain for civil liberties

 

What civil liberties was he against in this case?

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

Maybe you really were a NYC cop, given your apparent disdain for civil liberties

someones civil liberties don't extend in to a private building. But Fock those people, right? I mean it's only their home or business.

[tanatastic 2,062]

No one is going to arrest or detain a bunch of drunk white couch potato sports fans.

[IGotWorms 4,063]

 

What civil liberties was he against in this case?

The protesting on the public sidewalk, as was obvious from the post I quoted

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

The protesting on the public sidewalk

Where the hell did I say or infer anything like that? I've taken part in my share of demonstrations in NYC, as a participant and as a police officer. You're an idiot too.

[Sho Nuff 720]

The protesting on the public sidewalk, as was obvious from the post I quoted

 

With a permit...the only thing he talked about was those who came inside the building as far as going downtown.

[tanatastic 2,062]

This song is amazing. Tom Brady perfect balls remix. Just a feel good tune.

 

[IGotWorms 4,063]

Where the hell did I say or infer anything like that?

Permits, "free speech zones", blah blah blah. It's all bullsh1t designed to curtail first amendment rights and yet you buy it hook, line and sinker.

[Eaglesin14 12]

Permits, "free speech zones", blah blah blah. It's all bullsh1t designed to curtail first amendment rights and yet you buy it hook, line and sinker.

A "lawyer" who doesn't understand permits.

 

"Curtail first amendment rights"?????

[IGotWorms 4,063]

A "lawyer" who doesn't understand permits.

 

"Curtail first amendment rights"?????

Pssst, Mike's gonna figure out its you if you slip into your tired old tricks

[Eaglesin14 12]

Pssst, Mike's gonna figure out its you if you slip into your tired old tricks

Is exposing your idiocy a "tired old trick"?

 

Better get to reportin' Sonny.

[remote controller 143]

Pssst, Mike's gonna figure out its you if you slip into your tired old tricks

You need Mike to fight your battles??? Pats pvssy!

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

Permits, "free speech zones", blah blah blah. It's all bullsh1t designed to curtail first amendment rights and yet you buy it hook, line and sinker.

What he's doing here is trying to make it look like he's trying to hook me, to cover up for the fact, like the other idiot, that he made a statement without having all the facts. Nice try. And I don't know if you ever get out much, but NYC has somewhat of a reputation for being quite liberal. Not really known for hindering groups or individuals from expressing themselves. Give us a visit sometime, I can steer you towards areas with like minded individuals

[drobeski 3,061]

 

 

10 REASONS WHY AN APPEAL OVERTURNS TOM BRADYS SUSPENSION

 

by DANIEL J. FLYNN

12 May 2015

643

 

Patriots' Tom Brady Expected To Appeal 4 Game Suspension Over 'Deflategate'

Ora TV

 

 

00:00 / 01:21

The NFL suspended Tom Brady four games and snatched $1 million and first- and fourth-round draft picks from the New England Patriots based on the Wells Reports Deflategate findings. The Brady punishments odds of surviving appeal appear somewhat less than the quarterbacks odds of entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

 

Though the Patriots remain impotent to appeal the discipline, options aboundincluding a lawsuit and a league appealfor Tom Brady. The leagues past indifference to ball tampering, the bungling of the matter by NFL referees, and the Wells Reports reverse-engineering a guilty verdict based on an assumption of skullduggery all indicate that Tom Brady stands a better chance of starting 16 games this season than he does of starting 12.

 

Here are the top-ten reasons why an honest and impartial arbiter will toss the suspension:

 

#10. Ted Wells Judges 100 Seconds Enough Time to Deflate Balls But 13 Minutes Not Long Enough for Refs to Test Balls?

 

If a Dutch teenager could solve a Rubiks cube in less than six seconds, then its certainly possible that a beer distributor from New Hampshire could deflate a bag of unwieldy prolate spheroids in 100 seconds before the AFC Championship Game. Whether he did or not, we dont know because the bathroom door shielded his activities. But the possibility, like the possibility the he merely took a leak himself, is not implausible, so this supposition by Wells, though entirely speculative, surely does not fall into the outrageous category. Its when the investigator shifts the conversation to the Colts balls that he reveals a prejudice. Wells states (p. 70) that it is estimated that the footballs were inside the [referee] locker room for approximately 13 minutes and 30 seconds at halftime. But that (p. 7) [o]nly four Colts balls were tested because the officials were running out of time before the start of the second half. Get it? Wells finds 100 seconds ample time for one guy to deflate 12 footballs in a cramped bathroom but 810 seconds too brief a period for a room full of referees to gauge even half that number of Colts footballs.

 

#9 Wells Report Labels Texts Undermining Case a Joke, Texts Buttressing Case Dead Serious

 

When the text messages of Patriots employees undermine Wellss case, they joke. When the texts support Wellss case, the texters display unmistakable earnestness. So, when ball handler Jim McNally threatens (pp. 5, 13, 77, 78) to overinflate pigskins to the size of a rugby ball, a watermelon, or a balloon, he clearly jests, according to Wells, as he does (pp. 15, 80) when he says, The only thing deflating sun..is [bradys] passing rating. But when he calls himself, in the same chain of texts, the deflator, he writes in all seriousness even if in a joking tone, according to Wells. In every instance, the language dismissed as jokes undermines the case and the language seized upon as serious, which appears as a reading-between-the-lines reach, suggests guilt. When the beleaguered ball handlers insist the texts represent kidding around, Wells (p. 80) states: We do not view these explanations as plausible or consistent with common sense. All kidding aside, the interpretation says more about the interpreters than the interpreted.

 

#8. Ted Wells Doesnt Really Know the Pregame Pressure Levels

 

The entire Wells Report is based on an assumption that all of the Colts balls measured at 13.0 and all the Patriots balls measured at 12.5 before the game despite referee Walt Anderson conceding some variation (p. 52). Wells admits that the NFL referees did not bother to document the pregame measurements despite the Colts tipping off the NFL to their suspicions and the NFL warning the referees to watch for ball pressure. And despite the halftime measurements showing considerable fluctuations (p. 8) from ball to ball and considerable fluctuations in measurements of the same ball from referee to referee, the report insists on using neat, consistent pregame measurements of 13.0 for each Colts ball and 12.5 for each Patriots ball. Wells accepts the uniform 13.0/12.5 measurements in part because of the level of confidence [referee Walt] Anderson expressed in his recollection that the balls came in around those levels.

 

#7 After Relying on Walt Andersons Best Recollection, Wells Disregards It

 

Heres where things get interesting. According (pp. 51-52) to Andersons best recollection, he used the gauge with a Wilson logo and the long, crooked needle, calibrated by Wellss scientists as finding lower pressure readings, to gauge balls before the game. This is important because if the ref used this gauge that Wellss scientific consultants measured as taking consistently lower readings, then this would force Wells to rely on this particular gauge for halftime readings. Relying on this gauge clears eight of eleven Pats balls. But in this instance, Wells decided to dismiss Andersons best recollection and maintain that Anderson used the other gauge before the game. That certainly helps his case but its difficult to think of anything that helps one come to that conclusion. His scientistsgoing against the testimony of a referee entering his twentieth season in the NFLclaim (p. 116) that Walt Anderson most likely used the Non-Logo Gauge to inspect the game balls prior to the game. Why? As Mike Florio, who outlines this scandalous aspect of the report, writes: Thats how investigations that start with a predetermined outcome and work backward unfold.

 

#6. The Refs and Their Gauges Fluctuated Greatly

 

The halftime pressure readings on each ball vary considerably from referee to referee. There is no uniformity in one refs readings showing higher or lower than the others, suggesting human error or defective equipment. But either of these possibilities kills Wellss case, so he offers a theory explaining this away. He maintains (pp. 116-117) that it appears most likely that the two officials switched gauges in between measuring each teams footballs. While Clete Blakemans readings uniformly measure .3 to .45 psi lower on the Patriots balls than Dyrol Prioleaus readings, Blakemans readings consistently run higher, but on just three of four Colts balls, than Prioleaus. Apart from this inconsistency that raises serious questions about the digital gauges, their batteries, and the people running them, the Wells Reports raw datain contradiction to the narrativedefinitively answers that at least one of the gauges, or perhaps one of the refs, erred. How else to explain the .3 to .45 psi variances on all of the balls?

 

#5 The NFL Doesnt Punish for Ball Tampering

 

Brady denies tampering. Another, some might argue better, quarterback admits it. I like to push the limit to how much air we can put in the football, Aaron Rodgers told CBSs Phil Simms pre-Deflategate, even go over what they allow you to do and see if the officials take air out of it. Aside from the rule-breaking admission, the Green Bay Packers QBs preference for bigger footballs brings into question whether a lack of pressure provides an advantage or caters to a preference. Additionally, Foxs cameras caught the Minnesota Vikings and Carolina Panthers heating balls this past season in frigid Minneapolis. NFL officiating guru Dean Blandino told the teams to knock it off. Rodgers has thus far escaped both the tongue lashing and the $25,000 fine. Rule 2, Section 1 states: The Referee shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications. the balls shall remain under the supervision of the Referee until they are delivered to the ball attendant just prior to the start of the game. This didnt happen. In the event a home team ball does not conform to specifications, or its supply is exhausted, Rule 2, Section 2 holds, the Referee shall secure a proper ball from the visitors and, failing that, use the best available ball. This didnt happen.

 

#4. Wells Report Misleadingly Says Pats Shielded Ball Handler from Follow-Up Interview

 

We believe the failure by the Patriots and its Counsel to produce [Jim] McNally for the requested follow-up interview violated the clubs obligations to cooperate with the investigation under the Policy on Integrity of the Game & Enforcement of League Rules and was inconsistent with public statements made by the Patriots pledging full cooperation with the investigation, maintains the Wells Report. At best, the language (p. 20) proves misleading. It turns out, the Patriots made the employee in question, Jim McNally, available for three follow-up interviews. Only on the request for a fifth interrogation did the franchise say no more interviews for the game-day employee who lives 75 miles from Gillette Stadium. I was offended by the comments made in the Wells Report in reference to not making an individual available for a follow-up interview, Patriots owner Bob Kraft responded. What the report fails to mention is that he had already been interviewed four times and we felt the fifth request for access was excessive for a part-time game day employee who has a full-time job with another employer.

 

#3 A Whole Lot of More Probably Than Not Adds Up to Unlikely

 

Judging it more probable than not that Tom Brady was generally awarewhatever that meansof an event itself judged more probable than not does not make for a statistically airtight, or even compelling, case. Add in all the other more probable than not suppositions, such as those dismissing Walt Andersons recollection on what pregame gauge he used or theorizing that the refs switched gauges during halftime, and suddenly a 50 percent+1 finding becomes 25 percent, then 12.5 percent, and so on.

 

#2 Wells Cherry Picks Data

 

The reports assertions repeatedly conflict with its data on ball pressure. Specifically, all but three of the Patriots footballs, as measured by both gauges, registered pressure levels lower than the range predicted by the Ideal Gas Law, the report claims. This just isnt true, which a chart presented by Wells (p. 8) plainly shows. Eight of the balls measured by referee Dyrol Prioleau showed readings at or above where Wellss own scientists said balls inflated to 12.5 psi before the game would hit at halftime because of weather conditions. Wells states that the Patriots balls should have measured between 11.52 and 11.32 psi at the end of the first half. Ball 1 (11.80), Ball 3 (11.50), Ball 5 (11.45), Ball 6 (11.95), Ball 7 (12.30), Ball 8 (11.55), Ball 9 (11.35), and Ball 11 (11.35) all registered above 11.32 by Prioleaus readings (Balls 1, 6, and 7 also did so by Blakemans). Put another way, three Pats balls came in above the range outlined by the scientists, three Pats balls came in below the range, and five came within the range. In response to these completely normal measurements, Wells opts to dismiss the findings of a field judge with eight years NFL experience just as he dismissed the recollection of a referee entering his twentieth season in the NFL.

 

#1 1 NFL Uses Different Ball Pressure Standard for Pats and Colts

 

Whereas Wells ignores the best-case-scenario readings for the Patriots and highlights the worst-case scenario ones, he exclusively relies on the highest possible measurements when discussing Colts balls. He says (p. 52) at halftime, No air was added to the Colts balls tested because they each registered within the permissible inflation range on at least one of the two gauges used. Notice the different standard? For the Patriots, he talks about balls not passing muster on both gauges. For the Colts, he employs a one of the two gauges used standard. Apart from whitewashing the inconvenient truth that one referee judged a majority of Pats balls where Wellss scientists said balls inflated to regulation before the game would read at halftime, this underhanded tactic enables Wells to gloss over the fact that three Colts balls lost so much pressure after a half, despite supposedly coming in at 13.0 to begin with, that they fell short of the NFL standard on at least one refs gauge. Relying on the lower gauge when its suits the NFLs purposes and then both gauges when expediency demands it, like accepting Walt Andersons recollections when it suits and dismissing them when it doesnt, suggests a bias that an unbiased arbiter will likely find objectionable enough to dismiss the suspension.

[jerryskids 7,084]

 

I absolutely agree. Its a game of inches and an inch taken away here and there can drastically alter a game. Its unfair to call one inch more important than another just cuz it happens at the end of the game vs the first series.

Great explanation of why the reduced psi matters.

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

Nobody's going to read that.

[drobeski 3,061]

Nobody's going to read that.

super bowl champs

[Baker Boy 1,710]

It's a football website dumb a$$.

 

The Geek Club

Off-Topic at it's best! Hang out and meet some geeks... you just might learn something.

 

Board rules state:

No flaming or name calling. Harassment or abuse directed towards anyone will not be tolerated. Be respectful of other posters. This applies to ALL users, regardless of post count, forum rank or perceived status at FF Today.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/12/clinton-facing-new-ethics-questions-on-role-in-boeing-deal/?intcmp=latestnews

 

 

A sales plug in Russia in 2009, though, may have proved especially fruitful. While touring a Boeing plant, Secretary of State Clinton said, "We're delighted that a new Russian airline, Rossiya, is actively considering acquisition of Boeing aircraft, and this is a shameless pitch."

 

In 2010, Boeing landed the Russian deal, worth $3.7 billion. And two months later, the company donated $900,000 to the Clinton Foundation.

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

super bowl champs

 

*super bowl champs

[tanatastic 2,062]

Great explanation of why the reduced psi matters.

I agree it does, wouldnt ever say otherwise.

[Flyfreak 84]

10 REASONS WHY AN APPEAL OVERTURNS TOM BRADYS SUSPENSIONby DANIEL J. FLYNN12 May 2015643Patriots' Tom Brady Expected To Appeal 4 Game Suspension Over 'Deflategate'Ora TV00:00 / 01:21The NFL suspended Tom Brady four games and snatched $1 million and first- and fourth-round draft picks from the New England Patriots based on the Wells Reports Deflategate findings. The Brady punishments odds of surviving appeal appear somewhat less than the quarterbacks odds of entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame.Though the Patriots remain impotent to appeal the discipline, options aboundincluding a lawsuit and a league appealfor Tom Brady. The leagues past indifference to ball tampering, the bungling of the matter by NFL referees, and the Wells Reports reverse-engineering a guilty verdict based on an assumption of skullduggery all indicate that Tom Brady stands a better chance of starting 16 games this season than he does of starting 12.Here are the top-ten reasons why an honest and impartial arbiter will toss the suspension:#10. Ted Wells Judges 100 Seconds Enough Time to Deflate Balls But 13 Minutes Not Long Enough for Refs to Test Balls?If a Dutch teenager could solve a Rubiks cube in less than six seconds, then its certainly possible that a beer distributor from New Hampshire could deflate a bag of unwieldy prolate spheroids in 100 seconds before the AFC Championship Game. Whether he did or not, we dont know because the bathroom door shielded his activities. But the possibility, like the possibility the he merely took a leak himself, is not implausible, so this supposition by Wells, though entirely speculative, surely does not fall into the outrageous category. Its when the investigator shifts the conversation to the Colts balls that he reveals a prejudice. Wells states (p. 70) that it is estimated that the footballs were inside the [referee] locker room for approximately 13 minutes and 30 seconds at halftime. But that (p. 7) [o]nly four Colts balls were tested because the officials were running out of time before the start of the second half. Get it? Wells finds 100 seconds ample time for one guy to deflate 12 footballs in a cramped bathroom but 810 seconds too brief a period for a room full of referees to gauge even half that number of Colts footballs.#9 Wells Report Labels Texts Undermining Case a Joke, Texts Buttressing Case Dead SeriousWhen the text messages of Patriots employees undermine Wellss case, they joke. When the texts support Wellss case, the texters display unmistakable earnestness. So, when ball handler Jim McNally threatens (pp. 5, 13, 77, 78) to overinflate pigskins to the size of a rugby ball, a watermelon, or a balloon, he clearly jests, according to Wells, as he does (pp. 15, 80) when he says, The only thing deflating sun..is [bradys] passing rating. But when he calls himself, in the same chain of texts, the deflator, he writes in all seriousness even if in a joking tone, according to Wells. In every instance, the language dismissed as jokes undermines the case and the language seized upon as serious, which appears as a reading-between-the-lines reach, suggests guilt. When the beleaguered ball handlers insist the texts represent kidding around, Wells (p. 80) states: We do not view these explanations as plausible or consistent with common sense. All kidding aside, the interpretation says more about the interpreters than the interpreted.#8. Ted Wells Doesnt Really Know the Pregame Pressure LevelsThe entire Wells Report is based on an assumption that all of the Colts balls measured at 13.0 and all the Patriots balls measured at 12.5 before the game despite referee Walt Anderson conceding some variation (p. 52). Wells admits that the NFL referees did not bother to document the pregame measurements despite the Colts tipping off the NFL to their suspicions and the NFL warning the referees to watch for ball pressure. And despite the halftime measurements showing considerable fluctuations (p. 8) from ball to ball and considerable fluctuations in measurements of the same ball from referee to referee, the report insists on using neat, consistent pregame measurements of 13.0 for each Colts ball and 12.5 for each Patriots ball. Wells accepts the uniform 13.0/12.5 measurements in part because of the level of confidence [referee Walt] Anderson expressed in his recollection that the balls came in around those levels.#7 After Relying on Walt Andersons Best Recollection, Wells Disregards ItHeres where things get interesting. According (pp. 51-52) to Andersons best recollection, he used the gauge with a Wilson logo and the long, crooked needle, calibrated by Wellss scientists as finding lower pressure readings, to gauge balls before the game. This is important because if the ref used this gauge that Wellss scientific consultants measured as taking consistently lower readings, then this would force Wells to rely on this particular gauge for halftime readings. Relying on this gauge clears eight of eleven Pats balls. But in this instance, Wells decided to dismiss Andersons best recollection and maintain that Anderson used the other gauge before the game. That certainly helps his case but its difficult to think of anything that helps one come to that conclusion. His scientistsgoing against the testimony of a referee entering his twentieth season in the NFLclaim (p. 116) that Walt Anderson most likely used the Non-Logo Gauge to inspect the game balls prior to the game. Why? As Mike Florio, who outlines this scandalous aspect of the report, writes: Thats how investigations that start with a predetermined outcome and work backward unfold.#6. The Refs and Their Gauges Fluctuated GreatlyThe halftime pressure readings on each ball vary considerably from referee to referee. There is no uniformity in one refs readings showing higher or lower than the others, suggesting human error or defective equipment. But either of these possibilities kills Wellss case, so he offers a theory explaining this away. He maintains (pp. 116-117) that it appears most likely that the two officials switched gauges in between measuring each teams footballs. While Clete Blakemans readings uniformly measure .3 to .45 psi lower on the Patriots balls than Dyrol Prioleaus readings, Blakemans readings consistently run higher, but on just three of four Colts balls, than Prioleaus. Apart from this inconsistency that raises serious questions about the digital gauges, their batteries, and the people running them, the Wells Reports raw datain contradiction to the narrativedefinitively answers that at least one of the gauges, or perhaps one of the refs, erred. How else to explain the .3 to .45 psi variances on all of the balls?#5 The NFL Doesnt Punish for Ball TamperingBrady denies tampering. Another, some might argue better, quarterback admits it. I like to push the limit to how much air we can put in the football, Aaron Rodgers told CBSs Phil Simms pre-Deflategate, even go over what they allow you to do and see if the officials take air out of it. Aside from the rule-breaking admission, the Green Bay Packers QBs preference for bigger footballs brings into question whether a lack of pressure provides an advantage or caters to a preference. Additionally, Foxs cameras caught the Minnesota Vikings and Carolina Panthers heating balls this past season in frigid Minneapolis. NFL officiating guru Dean Blandino told the teams to knock it off. Rodgers has thus far escaped both the tongue lashing and the $25,000 fine. Rule 2, Section 1 states: The Referee shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications. the balls shall remain under the supervision of the Referee until they are delivered to the ball attendant just prior to the start of the game. This didnt happen. In the event a home team ball does not conform to specifications, or its supply is exhausted, Rule 2, Section 2 holds, the Referee shall secure a proper ball from the visitors and, failing that, use the best available ball. This didnt happen.#4. Wells Report Misleadingly Says Pats Shielded Ball Handler from Follow-Up InterviewWe believe the failure by the Patriots and its Counsel to produce [Jim] McNally for the requested follow-up interview violated the clubs obligations to cooperate with the investigation under the Policy on Integrity of the Game & Enforcement of League Rules and was inconsistent with public statements made by the Patriots pledging full cooperation with the investigation, maintains the Wells Report. At best, the language (p. 20) proves misleading. It turns out, the Patriots made the employee in question, Jim McNally, available for three follow-up interviews. Only on the request for a fifth interrogation did the franchise say no more interviews for the game-day employee who lives 75 miles from Gillette Stadium. I was offended by the comments made in the Wells Report in reference to not making an individual available for a follow-up interview, Patriots owner Bob Kraft responded. What the report fails to mention is that he had already been interviewed four times and we felt the fifth request for access was excessive for a part-time game day employee who has a full-time job with another employer.#3 A Whole Lot of More Probably Than Not Adds Up to UnlikelyJudging it more probable than not that Tom Brady was generally awarewhatever that meansof an event itself judged more probable than not does not make for a statistically airtight, or even compelling, case. Add in all the other more probable than not suppositions, such as those dismissing Walt Andersons recollection on what pregame gauge he used or theorizing that the refs switched gauges during halftime, and suddenly a 50 percent+1 finding becomes 25 percent, then 12.5 percent, and so on.#2 Wells Cherry Picks DataThe reports assertions repeatedly conflict with its data on ball pressure. Specifically, all but three of the Patriots footballs, as measured by both gauges, registered pressure levels lower than the range predicted by the Ideal Gas Law, the report claims. This just isnt true, which a chart presented by Wells (p. 8) plainly shows. Eight of the balls measured by referee Dyrol Prioleau showed readings at or above where Wellss own scientists said balls inflated to 12.5 psi before the game would hit at halftime because of weather conditions. Wells states that the Patriots balls should have measured between 11.52 and 11.32 psi at the end of the first half. Ball 1 (11.80), Ball 3 (11.50), Ball 5 (11.45), Ball 6 (11.95), Ball 7 (12.30), Ball 8 (11.55), Ball 9 (11.35), and Ball 11 (11.35) all registered above 11.32 by Prioleaus readings (Balls 1, 6, and 7 also did so by Blakemans). Put another way, three Pats balls came in above the range outlined by the scientists, three Pats balls came in below the range, and five came within the range. In response to these completely normal measurements, Wells opts to dismiss the findings of a field judge with eight years NFL experience just as he dismissed the recollection of a referee entering his twentieth season in the NFL.#1 1 NFL Uses Different Ball Pressure Standard for Pats and ColtsWhereas Wells ignores the best-case-scenario readings for the Patriots and highlights the worst-case scenario ones, he exclusively relies on the highest possible measurements when discussing Colts balls. He says (p. 52) at halftime, No air was added to the Colts balls tested because they each registered within the permissible inflation range on at least one of the two gauges used. Notice the different standard? For the Patriots, he talks about balls not passing muster on both gauges. For the Colts, he employs a one of the two gauges used standard. Apart from whitewashing the inconvenient truth that one referee judged a majority of Pats balls where Wellss scientists said balls inflated to regulation before the game would read at halftime, this underhanded tactic enables Wells to gloss over the fact that three Colts balls lost so much pressure after a half, despite supposedly coming in at 13.0 to begin with, that they fell short of the NFL standard on at least one refs gauge. Relying on the lower gauge when its suits the NFLs purposes and then both gauges when expediency demands it, like accepting Walt Andersons recollections when it suits and dismissing them when it doesnt, suggests a bias that an unbiased arbiter will likely find objectionable enough to dismiss the suspension.

this is good stuff, reinforces my belief that the NFL has arbitrary standards for just about everything that they do

 

nothing ever adds up